Control
by maxridefan
Summary: Jeb finds himself saved after being caught as a spy. Valencia is caring for him and everything would be great; if only he could find out what the white coats actually did to him.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I'm not a really great writer, this was just an idea I had, hopefully some people will enjoy it regardless of my choppy writing and lack of details. I feel like I was an inadequate writer for my idea and lacked complexity in my writing to do the complexities of the story justice. I guess I feel a little bit bad about that

* * *

Jeb proved to be a terrible spy. They caught him and it was his turn to be an experiment. He lost track of what was happening and where he was. Thinking he had lost consciousness for the last time, he was surprised to wake in a familiar house, without any restraints, without fear.

He sat up quickly and regretted it immediately. A gentle hand pushed him back down as he groaned. It was Val. "H-how…?"

"Never mind that…you need rest right now… you'll be safe here." She gave him a reassuring smile and he wanted to believe her. He closed his eyes and tried to recall the events preceding this.

_"Haha Batchelder, you have no idea, we are doing you a favor…you'll be like your glorious experiments, even better maybe…if you can handle it, that is."_

_"He is kind of old isn't he?"_

_Jeb didn't understand any of this. What was happening…where, how? He knew that Max and the others must have felt like this at one point. He was numb to needles now, but not numb to the effects of the solutions inside them. They made him run until he fainted. They electrocuted him often as they had just finished now. Sweat was beading on his forehead. He was gasping for breath. And they were laughing at him! Why didn't they just get this over with and kill him? He would have liked that, he was finished; there wasn't anything more he could take. And that was the last he remembered of that facility._

Now he was here, and here was very good. He would never admit how much he wanted to be here or anywhere with her. She was beautiful and kind. She was intelligent and she was the biological mother of his remaining child.

She was in the kitchen humming. He could smell food and it was keeping him awake. The pain experienced at the moment was more from hunger than anything else at this point. Jeb opened his eyes and slowly sat up. He had been lying on the couch, his glasses folded on the coffee table. They were cracked which was unfortunate, but better than expected. He sighed and put them on, they would have to do for now. Assessing himself, nothing was broken…his head was aching. On his left temple there was a nasty scar. His pulse was beating there, increasing his pain and dizziness. Did they hit him in the head?

His clothes had been changed…a thought came to mind and made him blush so he quickly pushed the idea out of his head. Rolling up his sleeves revealed numerous dots from injections. He was disgusted with himself and rolled his sleeves back down. His hands trembled uncontrollably.

Ella came downstairs; she was surprised to see him up. "Oh! You're up!" She smiled and added, "The flock will be back soon, they're out flying." Ella. He hadn't known her very well but he knew Max was very fond of her.

"Max is here!" Seeing Maximum also would really make his day.

"Yes… are you feeling okay? Are you sure you should be getting up?" She had the same way of being concerned as her mother.

_No_, he thought, "Yeah, really, I'm fine." Could he lie to Val as easily?

Valencia looked around the corner and smiled to see him doing better. "Food's almost ready."

"…okay." _Is this really…all over?_

Her face fell… _he'll be okay soon-I know it…he's stronger than that, they can't break him._

The flock returned from their flight. They greeted him with smiles, Max and Fang with smirks. Angel walked up to him, "your head's all funny." He knew better than to brush her off, she didn't do this for attention.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Angel frowned, trying to figure out how to put what she meant since she wasn't sure herself.

Finally, she just said, "you mean you can't tell?" And that was odd, wouldn't he know also?

"I-no…no I can't tell…I have a headache…" Inadvertently he touched the scar on his left temple. Angel watched him carefully.

Val interrupted the uncomfortable silence, "Food! You're all back just in time! Help yourselves." She was holding a bowl, it was for Jeb. He was eying it hungrily. When everyone had cleared out to the kitchen, she took a seat next to him. He raised his hand to take the spoon but she saw the obvious tremor in his hand and firmly said, "Say ah."

"What! I'm…not some child! I can feed myself."

"You want to eat don't you?" Her threat had tremendous effect on him and he surrendered. After looking away while his cheeks burned he opened his mouth lamely and Val fed him. She was good at taking care of him.

"Are you sure-"

"Finish your food first, then we'll talk." He didn't object, he was very hungry, even eating like a member of the flock. He recalled being malnourished by the scientists. It was apparent in his gaunt appearance.

Right after eating, his eyelids felt heavy as he leaned back on the couch. Val was about to leave so he could rest up when he said, "Wait."

She turned and said, "Look at you…you're so tired, you should sleep."

"No, first-first, tell me how I got here."

"Don't take it personally, we didn't know what they were doing to you or where you were, Max happened to find you when they were breaking in for files. You were in pretty bad shape."

"She hates me…I thought she'd leave me there… I deserved to be left there."

"No, no one deserves that…she rescued you because you're…one of them now kind of. Do you remember anything? The other scientists had a file on you; it wasn't clear what they were trying to do, though."

He thought hard and touched his scar again. Did it have something to do with that? Running his hand through his hair, he said… "No I can't remember anything specific…mostly it just felt like…torture."

Val touched his shoulder tenderly, "I'm sorry we couldn't get you out of there sooner…"

"It's all over now…that's all that counts." He still had a hard time looking at her. She was too stunning.

Then Angel, out of nowhere, climbed onto their laps. She was looking very intently at Jeb. "Angel sweetie, Jeb can't play right now…" Valencia still didn't know Angel was always much more serious than other little girls.

"No…I want to find out…" Her voice trailed off while she slowly reached up towards his head… the left side. Jeb could only stare back at her, unsure of what to do. Her small hand made its way up to his left temple. It delicately made contact with her fingers and suddenly both of them cried out in pain.

Jeb jerked his body away while Valencia pulled Angel closer to her. Both were holding their heads.

"Angel…what did you do?"

"You're head…doesn't like me." There were tears in her eyes. "I was right…that's what they did to you, that scar." Jeb was holding his head and burying his face in his lap. What was Angel saying? This was ridiculous.

"What happened in here? Report!" It was Max, she heard their cries. She came over and held Angel who had recovered by now. Jeb, however, was far from recovered, he tried to look up, the room was spinning.

"There's something wrong with Jeb's head," Angel whispered, answering Max's question. Max put Angel down and went over to tend to her father. He shut his eyes tightly as he held his head. If he opened them, the room would continue to spin and he would vomit for sure.

"Jeb…what is it, what's wrong?"

"The room… it's…spinning," he managed. Valencia took over.

She took his shoulders and said gently, "you'll be okay; you can open your eyes." He didn't. "I'm right here," she added. Slowly, he opened his eyes, he seemed better, but he felt sick.

"There's something in your head. It's bad… I think." Jeb turned to Angel, his hand rose to his scar and she nodded. He turned to Valencia, unsure of what to say.


	2. Chapter 2

"We need to get your head checked," she said decisively.

"How?"

"Well, ideally a CAT scan…don't you think?" He agreed, and he was scared. "As soon as possible…" Jeb nodded. He didn't say anything more and the color drained from his face.

The next day, they made an appointment to see a doctor, a friend of Val's. It wasn't exactly an appointment. This friend was just letting them use the machine. Nervously, Jeb lay down; Val and her friend were looking for anything unusual on the screens.

They found what they were looking for-immediately. When the machine turned on, Jeb felt a terrible pain at his scar. He didn't know it yet, but something had been ripped from his head by the machine. He became aware that he was bleeding profusely.

"Shit!" Val cursed as she ran into the room over to where Jeb was groaning and clutching his head. "Jeb, oh my god, are you okay?" She gasped when she saw the blood running down his face.

"Jesus…next time, knock me out first." It was a joke, but he really would have appreciated that.

Normally Val would have laughed, but she was concerned…Angel couldn't have known she guessed.

"Um Val, perhaps this might be what you were looking for?" After careful inspection, her friend produced a small chip, the size of an SD chip.

"That was …in my head?"

"Afraid so…"

"This is what we get for using a giant magnet, Jesus Christ."

"But what was it for…?"

Thinking quickly, Val cut him off, "Thank you so much Dr. Scott, we'll be on our way now…"

"Oh no, how about we stitch up your friend first?" He paused then added, "I won't tell anyone." He chuckled at how absurd all this was. Jeb was bleeding a lot, and it would be strange to walk out with blood streaming out his head like that. She put the chip in her pocket and agreed to that.

They got him cleaned up and rushed home. When Max saw the blood on Jeb's shirt she questioned them, "Did you run into trouble?"

"No, we just ripped a microchip from my head, no big deal," Jeb said bitterly. His head still had a dull ache, but it wasn't the odd kind anymore. He looked for Angel. She found him. He kneeled and nodded at Angel. She reached up cautiously, her hand rested on the dressing on his head, but there wasn't any pain this time…just a faint tingle, leaving them both bewildered.

"That was the thing then…" Angel said quietly, she hadn't wanted him to get hurt.

"Then what was it doing?" Jeb looked away and lost himself in thoughts.

"Maybe that was a tracker," Max wondered aloud.

"No I don't think it was that, they would have come by now, wouldn't they?" Jeb responded.

Valencia was pulling his arm towards the couch; she wanted him to rest more. Jeb didn't resist and let her lead him. He lay down and she took his glasses and set them on the table. She was going to leave when he caught her wrist. She sat back down by his side, he held her hand, she gave it a squeeze and stayed until he fell asleep. _I like having him here_, she thought, _I don't want him to leave._

* * *

Peace and relative quiet didn't last long. A little while later, unwelcomed guests showed up at the door. Val tensed; through the window she saw their white coats and name tags. She called out to the flock to be on guard, they remained out of sight but near. She opened the door and smiled. "Can I help you?"

One of them laughed, most disturbing, "Yeah lady, you got a Jeb Batchelder here…he's ours."

"I don't know who you're talking about," she responded. They pushed her away and stepped inside.

"Don't lie to us, we just want to take him back and fix something…you might have broken our experiment," the other one said.

"I need you to leave." But it was too late, Jeb was stepping into view. He remembered these two.

"Get out," he said firmly.

"Oh ho, you're not one to boss us around, I'm afraid! Come here like a good boy, or else you'll break." They stepped towards him, his heartbeat quickened. He didn't think he could take two people in a fight in his current state.

"I think he'll come _willingly_…" the other said and turned around…towards Val. He grabbed her wrist and she slapped him. He was quicker though and pulled out a gun as his accomplice restrained her. "Now come…or your girlfriend gets it."

"Mom!" Max shouted, the flock stepped out.

"Oh! Wonderful! One big happy family, bird kids…cute. Erasers will bring you back with us. I'll get a promotion."

Jeb could feel his heartbeat booming in his chest, _Val…_

Suddenly his vision changed…the colors faded away…it all looked like a sketch, the lines shook vibrantly. He was shocked when he moved without thinking. It's like those two didn't get it, they had a look of shock on their faces, but they didn't move. Why?

When he took the gun and sent it skidding across the room at Fang's feet, he also saw the shock on his face. _What is it?_

He took both of them down and his chest was heaving when he stopped moving. His vision returned to normal and he fell on his knees. The room was spinning again.

The whitecoats laughed after they got back to their feet, "See! Broken…but we'll let you stay that way, new variable in the experiment, we'll be watching, toodles." And they left.


	3. Chapter 3

"Augh…my head…my head." Jeb was writhing on the ground.

Instead of asking him what was wrong however, she first said, "How did you do that?"

"…Do what?" He managed.

"We couldn't see you move," Fang answered calmly.

"…what?" It was so ridiculous, Jeb could have laughed, but his head was killing him.

"He was moving though, I…I _felt_ it." They all turned to look at Iggy, the blind member of the flock. "His movements were…fast… but extremely clear. I could follow all of them." He explained, he was almost happy, the movements were so clear it was as if he had sight again.

They'd have to save this discussion for later, however, because Jeb was in no condition to explain what he did. Fang and Max literally dragged him kicking and screaming to the couch. He resisted because moving made his head much worse. He spent another hour trying to go to sleep, waiting for the pain to go away. He convulsed as agony swept through him. Val stayed near him; she wished she knew what to do.

He finally slept for several hours. When he awoke, Val was still next to him, for which he was glad. "I need to tell you…what happened." She nodded and leaned close to him as he continued, "My vision…changed, the colors went away, everything looked shaky, kind of like a bad earthquake…and then I…moved." He added, "Well, then I felt horrible, I never want to do that again."

She thought for a second, "Do you think…that's what they meant by broken? The chip?" She felt bad.

"Perhaps…how would that chip have helped?"_ Angel had said it was bad news._

"Maybe you wouldn't have had those nasty after-effects." It was Fang, piecing together the puzzle.

"But I don't even know how I started the whole thing…" Strange theories were unwelcome, and he didn't want to replace the chip in his head.

"What were you thinking before things… changed?"

"I-I was panicking…I wanted to…protect…" He trailed off.

"Hmm…I don't know…but either way…it's bad to panic, try not to." Fang walked off, offering no more theories.

* * *

"You wanted to protect?" Val ventured.

"I-Well…yeah because you…because you're- you saved me. I just-" His answer wasn't exactly what either was looking for. He looked away shyly.

But Val understood, and she smiled, she took his hand, "Thank you; that was very brave of you."

"It was nothing," he mumbled. Screwed that up, Jeb. But then, she embraced him. It felt so good. She was about to withdraw when he reached out and returned the embrace, pulling her closer to him. He buried his face in her dark, wavy hair. He kissed her neck. When they pulled away from each other, there was a moment of hesitation before Jeb leaned over and kissed her lips. Their embrace was becoming more passionate as they finally stopped for breath. Jeb found that he had her pinned on the couch; he blushed and looked away, as per usual. And Val said between breaths, "The kids…the kids will-"He nodded in silent agreement and let her up. "Umm…"

Jeb, looking away, fidgeted. He turned to her, she returned his gaze. She was better at that than him. He thought his throat was going to close up, "I…I love you." His face was burning; _I'm so bad at this…_

But she smiled sweetly and gave him a peck on the lips. "I'll get us something to eat." Val walked off casually, inside, she was excited like a schoolgirl.

Not only did he eat his own food, Val gave him hers too. He was just really hungry. "Are you okay…is this normal?"

"It kind of makes sense doesn't it? Moving like that should be…exhausting." He was silent for a moment, "That file, you have it right? Can I see it?" He needed answers.

"Of course." She returned with a slim file and he frowned…that likely wouldn't help much. "I wasn't really sure of anything…it all seemed so vague, but maybe you can figure it out."

"Let's have a look." Trying to sound hopeful was so difficult when it had to do with himself.

He opened up the file and on the first page found a basic report of his health, he was relieved to see there wasn't anything major wrong with him; then again, that appeared to be the report prior to whatever they had done to him. His health may have changed dramatically. The next page had a detailed diagram of the brain. There were several notes on the fight-or-flight response. Sections of the brain were highlighted.

"It makes more sense now…if they were to…exact the response and concentrate it so that the human body could excel _even_ more… But that's so...-it has an enormous negative effect on the human body afterwards." Before Valencia could add anything he turned to the next page. The negative effects were listed…there was an indication that they were testing the solution to the problem. He noted mostly to himself, "They must have found out how to exact the effect…then realized they needed to stabilize the body for the after-effects…the chip…"

"Oh…Jeb…" Valencia started, realizing what this meant. She held him, attempting to comfort him.


	4. Chapter 4

"So I am…broken."

"No…no, no, look at you, you're doing fine."

He put the file down and walked away, that's all he needed to know. He stepped outside into the backyard. Fang was standing there quietly, as usual. He eyed Jeb cautiously. Finally Jeb said to him, "I need to test it…" He gestured for Fang to fight with him. Fang, uncomfortable with this, started to walk away. "No, wait, I need to control this… or… I could _lose _it… it's dangerous." Desperation was creeping in him, maybe Fang could hear it in his voice.

Fang pondered this for a moment, he read through that file too and it was becoming more and more clear. In a sudden movement, he ran at Jeb and threw his fist into his face. Jeb wasn't fast enough and staggered back. _Damn! It didn't work!_

"Come on!" Fang shouted, even Jeb should be better than this. Jeb ran at him and the two were sparring. But it didn't work, his vision remained normal, his movements, still human. In his disappointment, he let down his guard and Fang let fly a kick to the chest that sent him flying back. His muscles froze up as he landed painfully. It knocked the wind out of him…but that did it. Yes!

Fang was worried for a second, he almost called out to see if Jeb was okay when the scientist disappeared from sight. Fang smirked; this fight was over-Jeb was too fast. He saw the flash of Jeb's image in front of him and felt a fist drive into his face. "Ouch."

"Now we're even." Jeb smiled as Fang nodded.

"We'll that's not fair, he couldn't 'see' you." It was Iggy. "Move. I'll get you." Iggy commanded. He was confident, this was his fight. He could finally do something the others couldn't.

Jeb moved to the other side of the lawn, immediately Iggy was after him, throwing punches. It caught him by surprise. But he could see all of Iggy's movements, he could almost relax and he threw each blow to the side. What was more surprising though, was when he finally moved to strike, Iggy caught it and resumed the offensive. _He knows where I'm moving!_

This continued for a while, they were both getting tired. Jeb's vision became a narrow tunnel, he had to land this kick, or it was over. But he saw Iggy already moving to block it, _no!_ A smile curled on Iggy's lips.

Then it happened. The sketchy colourless vision transformed into grainy black and white with bright contrast. The only things showing up in solid white were Iggy's moving limbs, a danger to him. Other things were vague thin white outlines. Mid-kick, he twisted his body and switched legs. His right leg was now flying at Iggy at frightening speed. Iggy's smile changed to a frown almost as quick as Jeb changed directions. He was now sprawled on the lawn holding his side. "Holy shit, what was that!"

"What?"

"All the sudden, you got faster. Changing direction was one thing, but that was too fast for me, I could still feel it clearly, but I didn't have time to do anything about it."

"My vision changed again," he said flatly. Then he started to worry, why isn't it changing back? He covered his face with his hands; he couldn't get stuck like this could he?

"Jeb?" Fang was still there, he noticed a change in Jeb's body language…not a good change.

He saw Fang's figure moving toward him, he backed away, his heartbeat starting to race. "No! You've got to... stay away…"

"What, it's just me, Fang."

"Just stop! You're…you're making me freak out!" Fang obeyed and took a step back. "I-I figured it out…my body can…access the benefits of fight-or-flight response and they've been concentrated to be more intense than normal… and this is a more primitive level than the first one, the concentration is greater… and right now you really make me want to run!" Talking about it wasn't calming him down like he hoped. Approaching the situation logically couldn't detach him as it usually did.

"What did I tell you? Don't panic-" Fang couldn't win this, Jeb wouldn't listen while his panic was blocking out reason.

"I can't help it!"

"Jeb." It was Val.

"Yes?" He was hyperventilating. "No, don't get close to me, I might hurt you…" He back away, and tripped on a root. His panic only increased.

"No, I don't think you will. I think you can control it, you were designed to." She trusted him, she trusted his _control_.

"If I had that damned chip! Now I'm just another one of their failed experiments!" His panic was fueling his anger as his words lashed out at his loved ones.

"Technically…I'm a failed experiment." Iggy… no one could call Iggy a failure. Iggy faced so much adversity being blind; he was no failure.

Jeb was calming down, his breathing slowed down. He blinked tears away. "Iggy…" _Iggy's no failure, somewhere, those scientists are laughing, and I'm not going to let them._


	5. Chapter 5

Jeb stood up slowly, he had his eyes closed. After taking several deep, shuddering breaths he opened his eyes. He would have celebrated that his eyesight faded back to normal, but the after-effects were so debilitating that he fell back onto the grass. Val was helping him up, she was going to take his arm and swing it over her shoulders to help him inside, but he refused it and stood silently trying not to lose his balance. The others watched and were ready to catch him, should he fall.

_I can beat this. I can control this weakness._ Everything was spinning. He closed his eyes and took a step, like a leap of faith. The solid ground gave him confidence, but every step was exhausting. In a wave of weakness he fell on one knee and couldn't raise himself. Fang and Valencia were on either side, helping him up. With them, he tried to walk without closing his eyes. He made it through the sliding door to the inside. Nearby was the couch, his salvation. He shook Valencia and Fang off and with great effort, took slow steps toward the couch. He almost felt as though he was getting used to the vertigo, if that was even possible. He was right at the edge of the coffee table, he only needed to turn and he would be at the couch, but he fainted from exerting so much effort. Onto the table.

"Oh, well…at least he'll sleep through the effects." Fang and Valencia laid him onto the couch.

"I think he's going to beat it."

"Fang, how-"

"Did you see the look in his eyes? He was calm." That was what he hoped to see.

Late in the evening, Jeb woke. He sat up with a struggle. Val wasn't far away fortunately and she made him something to eat. "I'm aching…all over…"

She laughed, "You're getting too old."

"That's true," he laughed also, "but I don't think it applies to this exactly."

He again devoured all food in sight. "It's been a long day, you must be really tired..." Valencia was rubbing his back and resting her chin on his shoulder. He didn't tell her how nice it felt. She wasn't sure what to say, "I'll pick up your new glasses tomorrow, then you won't have to wear the cracked ones."

He turned to her and whispered his thanks in her ear and started to kiss her neck. She noticed he didn't push her down onto the couch gently like last time, _He's too tired and hurting_, she thought. She took the initiative and pushed him down onto the couch. Her gentle caress relaxed his taut muscles. She was unbuttoning his shirt to kiss his chest. He pulled off her top. He wanted to feel her close to him. It has to be noted that nothing more than very intimate and passionate caress happened, however, the next morning, the flock of course, got the wrong idea.

Jeb and Valencia woke to seven kids watching them curiously.

"Mom…" Ella wasn't sure what to think.

"Oh, Ella sweetie…it's not…it's not what you think." Jeb was starting to blush as he heard Gazzy and Iggy sniggering. Nudge and Angel were telling each other that they knew it all along.

"Really now…" It was Jeb's turn to defend himself, but no one was listening, it didn't help that Valencia was pulling his shirt tighter around herself for modesty. He had to save the situation, but Max did it for him.

"Okay, everyone, you've had your fun, now get out, leave them alone." Jeb knew he raised a good leader.

Everyone began shuffling away. Max glared at Jeb as he said, "Thanks, Max."

"I didn't do it for you, I did it for Mom." Valencia looked away ashamed as she began to pull her top back on.

"Max, I'm sorry…" Jeb was buttoning his shirt up. Valencia really felt bad about this.

"Mom, it's okay…really, it's fine…if you're happy- just don't… not in front of the kids."

They both nodded, unbelieving of Max's understanding. Max walked away, breakfast would be ready soon. Jeb and Valencia embraced quickly, and he said to her, "that was the best night of sleep I've had in a long time."

"Me too." And they smiled at each other.

* * *

At breakfast, Gazzy was pondering, "Jeb, you're so fast I wonder if you can catch bullets! Like in those movies!"

"Oh my god, that would be _so_ cool. I love those movies with all that action and the hot guys-" Nudge was cut off as usual.

"Gazzy, you really have a good idea for an experiment." Jeb, the voice of reason, was suggesting they try it?

"No, that's too dangerous," Valencia interjected.

"Well, I'm not saying I should be shot directly at, but it would really be something if I could reach out and snatch them." Trying to make it sound reasonable made it sound even more ridiculous.

"We don't have a gun," Max said.

"We could buy one," Iggy mused.

"I-I don't know about this…it was just a cool idea, you know… no way is Jeb gonna do that…" Gazzy was trying to withdraw his clearly dangerous idea.

"No, I think Jeb can do it," it was Angel; she added thoughtfully, "he's evolving."


	6. Chapter 6

Eventually they got their hands on a gun at the pawn shop. They drove out to somewhere more remote to conduct their test. Fang was the only one calm enough to fire the gun. Everyone stood behind him as he aimed off to the side from Jeb. But he was trembling; guns could really hurt him, if he messed up…?

Iggy put his hand on Fang's shoulder, "He can do it…he's fast, he really is."

Jeb closed his eyes, it was helping that the presence of the gun was making him nervous, he got to the first stage easily, he wasn't sure if he could make it to the second…maybe he could try it without. Unsure, he nodded to Fang.

A shot rang out, Jeb cried out in pain. Fang dropped the gun, "Jesus!"

Jeb was nursing his hand which was bleeding; the bullet lay unassumingly on the ground a few feet behind. He had managed to stop it. "It's nothing, I'm fine…" The pain had done it- his vision was black and white, grainy with high contrast. "I know what I did wrong…once more!"

"No, I'm not going to shoot that thing again!" This is why the flock didn't like guns.

Jeb looked at him with determination, it wasn't a veil of calm- it was real calm in his eyes.

"Okay." The others looked at him with surprise. Everyone took their places once again. There was a shot, then a grinning Jeb. He chuckled and held up a bullet, pride written on his face. Upon further inspection, they saw the bullet had a bend from him swatting it out of the air so quickly. It was most impressive.

"Wow! You really did it!"

"Let me see!"

The flock was really excited. He held out the bullet for them to handle as he backed away. His vision was still in second-level fight-or-flight and their crowding him was making him sweat. If he stayed calm, he could turn it off. Last time was no coincidence, right?

Fang had put the gun away and walked up to Jeb. Now that they were testing theories, he wanted to know something else. "How high can you jump?"

"What?" The question seemed random, but when he thought about it, it made sense, the flock could fly, he could not. "I don't know."

"While you're ready like this, we should try it, yeah?"

"I guess so… Here goes-" He bent his knees and took off into the air. The only striking thing was the speed at which he'd reach the peak of his jump. He had been hoping he'd jump a little higher than fifteen feet, but that was better than nothing. "It was okay," he conceded.

"It was fast." Fang observed. But he observed more than that. "Want to fly with me?" Jeb gave him a puzzled expression. "I could use that momentum- it's a great way to get off the ground." Fang was also vaguely sure he could fly while carrying the scientist, his frame was pretty wiry after all. The others started to watch as Jeb took Fang on his back, like a piggy-back ride. Then they vanished from sight as Jeb took off running. Fang had folded his wings in for maximum aerodynamics. It was a brilliant running start, they seemed to be rocketing into the air as Fang increased his grip on Jeb and then snapped his dark wings out. They were coasting far from the others. The wind out in this open space felt so good, "Let's go higher!" Jeb wasn't sure about that, but he didn't say anything. He hadn't been afraid of heights before, anyway.

They were high up, Jeb held tight to Fang's arms. "Don't-Don't drop me."

Fang frowned…_He can't lose it, not now. Keep it together, old man._ "I would never drop you, trust me." _Too bad I'm not Valencia or that would work._

Jeb was ignoring these comforting words because his vision was changing again. Fang had felt the man's heartbeat rapidly speeding up, then it suddenly ceased, and struck up again in a calm, level rhythm. Had it not started again, he would have thought Jeb suffered a heart attack. He was almost afraid to ask, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered, a new calm came over him. It was more than calm though, it was a tranquility he had never experienced before. "I can…feel your wings beating. But I can't see them… This is clearer than seeing, though."

"You're…blind?" A very unexpected turn of events.


	7. Chapter 7

"It would seem so, everything is bright white. But really, this is better than seeing. Let's go back down, I need to test this…"

They coasted back to the ground. As Jeb was walking towards them, Valencia saw it. "Your eyes!" He was confused. "Your pupils are gone-"

He cut her off, "It's another level I think… everything is white, I can't see… but I know your movements. I understand them better than I could if I saw them."

"Then I know what we need to test!" Iggy shouted as he ran at him. Jeb side-stepped him and gestured for the others to also participate. He needed to test the extreme to find the extent of this extra sense.

Within minutes, the flock was backing away. They couldn't land hits on him. He knew all their movements. Out of breath, Max said, "I think we've tested everything we need to."

"Jeb evolved again," Angel said, and then she smiled at him.

"I guess it's time to-" Jeb started, he had to return his vision to normal, Valencia was by his side for when he would experience the familiar vertigo. His vision faded back to normal- real normal. The world wasn't spinning and his sense of balance wasn't impaired. She was clutching his arm but noticed no weakness in him. She loosened her grip and he turned to her and pulled her close. His embrace was strong, he whispered, "I'm not…broken anymore." She wrapped her arms around him, he felt like his life was taking a turn for the best. _She's the one, she's always been the one._

Fang smiled, "all better?"

Jeb's wide smile told all, "Yeah, I'm so hungry, let's go home."

They made a pit stop for glasses. While picking up glasses, Jeb decided to pick something _else _up at the _jewelers_. Nudge and Angel followed him in. He was about to play it off as getting a gift as thanks for Valencia but the two cut him off, "We won't telllllll."

"Besides, you need to pick a really good one out," Nudge started. Before she could continue Jeb turned away, he actually didn't need any help, he knew, he had seen it before…if they still had it-

_Yes!_ There it was, a glorious silver ring with a diamond cradled between two _wings._ Jeb smiled victoriously as Angel said, "It's perfect." Nudge on the other hand was speechless for once. Hiding the small velvet box deep in his pocket, he strolled out of the jewelers casually and met up with Valencia and the others.

They were walking back to the car when Max and Fang gave each other a nod. She stepped to one side of her mom and gave her a slight shove as Fang stepped on Jeb's heel so that he lurched forward and caught Valencia before she fell. Smirking, Max and Fang walked forward, their work done. The rest of the flock walked by without paying them much mind. Jeb and Val smiled as they realized what happened. He helped her steady herself and she giggled when he didn't let go of her hand. They walked to the car hand in hand.

Now that he had the perfect ring, Jeb faced another dilemma, _when to ask?_ As he started to think about it, what to say started to vex him. _What if I can't pull the box out of my pocket? How embarrassing. What if she says no! No, don't think about that, can't think about those things._ Before he knew it they were home and he was lounging on the couch with Val while Iggy prepared a large meal for all of them.

Rubbing circles on her hand with his thumb, he observed, _her hands are so soft_. She broke the silence, "How are your new glasses?"

"You're even more stunning through these lenses." Jeb wasn't sure where that came from; he can't remember when he became that corny.

She laughed, "When did you get so corny?"

Instead of answering, he kissed her. His affections were more aggressive as his strength increased; Val was overjoyed to see his health improve. They broke the kiss in case any of the kids were to walk by.

During dinner Jeb was absent-mindedly staring across at Valencia as he thought about proposing. Fang kicked him under the table to get him to stop. Mid-meal, an idea came to him. _She'd kill me, _he thought. But he wanted to, he had to. Angel heard this thought, _I'll tell the others to make sure it goes right. _Surprised he looked over at her, she smiled brightly. He thought to her, _yes, please do that._ As it was passed around the table, smiles were traded and giggles let out. _They think it's a great idea,_ Angel told Jeb. That was a comfort as he was working up the nerve.

Then he set his plan in action. He hoped the one drama class he had taken to fill an art requirement in high school would pay off.


	8. Chapter 8

"AUGH-" Jeb clamped his hands on the sides of his head and fell out of his chair. Fang leaned over out of his chair to help Jeb right himself. Several flock members jumped to their feet as Iggy asked frantically, "what's happening!" But none of them really _did_ anything. Valencia was by his side in a flash anyway. She did not notice any lack of support from the kids_._

"Jeb! Jeb, are you okay! Say something!" She failed to notice his stance, a very particular one as he took his hands away from his head and smiled at her. She sighed, "you're okay, I'm so glad…"

He took her hand and kissed it gently. With his other hand, he reached into his pocket and produced a small velvet box. Valencia gasped. "Valencia Martinez, you're the woman I want to be with for the rest of my life, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" _Please say yes…_

Valencia's hands cupped her mouth, she was so surprised. She swallowed and composed herself. Her expression changed to one of anger and Jeb's face fell. "I was so worried about you! Don't ever do that again!" And she added with a smile, "And the answer, is most definitely, yes."

Everyone was all smiles as they were congratulating the two. Nudge was excitedly babbling about the perfect wedding. Valencia admired the ring, it really was perfect. A representation of the project that separated them, only to bring them back together, stronger than ever. Max was fairly jealous of her mom's ring; she could only hope Fang could find a ring as perfect for her when that day came. Fang, of course, was taking mental notes.

The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful. It was the evening that was different. While there was nothing wrong with the couch, it was a little lonely. While Valencia could leave her room, she couldn't risk falling asleep on the couch with Jeb. Luckily, Jeb had a similar idea and had snuck upstairs to her room. He poked his head in shyly and saw her sitting on the side of the bed. He didn't want her to think badly of him, but he just couldn't sleep alone on the couch, as tired as he was. She got up and advanced towards him so he took a step inside. Wordlessly she pulled him in. They shut the door quietly. As their lips crashed together they began to shed clothes. Their words were lost in waves of passion in the night.

This was perhaps the happiest moment of Jeb's life, when he woke the next morning with Valencia in his arms, proving it was no dream or elaborate fantasy. He just lay looking at her for a few moments as the sun illuminated her face. As though she knew someone's eyes were on her, Val's eyelids fluttered open and she smiled sleepily at Jeb. They didn't want to detach from each other's arms, but they had to start another day. And what a day it would be.

Breakfast as normal, lots of bacon. A morning stretch, the flock went out flying. How could they have known? How could they have known Max would be taken? It happened after lunch, they never saw it coming, and they didn't even see it happening. There was a movement in the room, Iggy felt it. "Jeb there's…!" And Angel heard the foreign thoughts in the room.

"Max watch out!" She called. But it was too late. Max felt a heavy blow to her head and she was out. Jeb's vision changed but he only saw a shadow, he followed but he didn't see the shadow charge back at him and send him flying into the wall.

As he struggled to stand, he heard a man's voice say, "Let's play a game of chase, I'll even slow down for you."


	9. Chapter 9

Valencia was helping Jeb up but he took her by the shoulders instead and said quickly, "I will bring her back, I promise." It wasn't enough to ease her worry, but he had to leave now. "Iggy and Gazzy, you have to stay in case anyone else comes."

"Understood." Iggy was the only who could sense the quick movements-it would be something.

Fang was flying with haste and almost dragging Angel and Nudge with him. They could barely keep up so holding his hand and going along for the ride wasn't too bad. Angel could only stay in touch with Jeb by using telepathy.

Jeb wasn't seeing, he was feeling the movements of the man who was kidnapping his daughter. He must have been similar to Jeb…perhaps he still had his chip as he was amazingly fast. Since Jeb was on foot and behind his target, dodging obstacles became hard. He couldn't afford to focus too much on them, but at his speed, were he to hit something, it would be all over. Since no one could see him, it's not like cars in the street would stop for him. It was becoming a bad hurdles race as they bounded block after block and cars were stopping at intersections. And the man was still always just at the outer edge of his perception. Before he knew it, he was in a back alley rushing through a door and clumsily tumbling down several flights of stairs.

"Ouch…" The man stopped, so Jeb did too. _Does he want to fight me? I'll kill him…_

"Let's take a breather shall we? I see you're out of breath." He was correct, Jeb ragged breath was making his throat dry. "I never introduced myself, how rude; my name is Doctor Brackenwald. I oversaw your experiment, quite an interesting turn of events really. It was fascinating. Even without genetic alteration, you really are an interesting person, Jeb Batchelder." The face before Jeb was twisted into a sickening grin. Dark brown hair was neatly cropped, not a hair out of place. "Now, in a moment, your cute little bird experiments will arrive, and I'll have to keep them busy with some modified erasers. You don't have to worry about them, rather, you shouldn't, because you'll be fighting me. I want to see how much you have advanced, experiment 1. Yes, you were the first one we implanted the chip on after altering your genetics. Hahaha, wasn't it brilliant? From experiment 2, we found the chip was effective, that was the same day you had yours ripped out in a CATscan." He paused, "though you lacked good judgment there, I must applaud your brilliance in your field; such as this one," he lifted Max, "she is quite the specimen."

"Let her go!"

"I might, I might not, I had to get you to come here though, I need to experience your progress first-hand!"

There were quick steps down the stairs. _They didn't need to come…they could get hurt…_ This monster was going to hurt kids that he helped raise, he considered all the flock his children.

Fang, Nudge and Angel stopped behind Jeb, ready to fight.

"Erasers! Please join us for some fun!" From the doors on the side, lupine hybrids flooded the room. Their claws scratched the floor as they ran, they looked at the avian kids hungrily. "Now, Batchelder, come with me." He dashed out of sight. Jeb had to follow before he'd lose the doctor; he couldn't even give Fang, Nudge and Angel any acknowledgement before vanishing from sight. He noticed Max was deposited somewhere, he almost stopped to find her when a hand shoved him to the ground and held his neck. "Don't you dare, or I guarantee someone dies tonight." The doctor left him on the ground and dashed away again, waiting for his pursuer to resume the chase. Jeb obeyed, he had to play by the rules. They had gone up stairs and down corridors before finally arriving at a room many floors above where the flock had been left.

"This is my office, there are high speed cameras in here, they will bear witness to your extermination by my hand. It is my responsibility to terminate failed projects, after all."

"Max-"

"Enough chatter, it is time to begin." He vanished from site and slammed into Jeb's side.

Groaning as he got up the doctor said to him, "I thought you'd at least be more fun than this." Then, "Play with me! Just like you didn't play with your little son! What was his name? Hahahaha!" Jeb lashed out with the side of his arm but was caught and thrown to the side. "Oh? Hit a nerve? Do you hate me? Come get me, failure!"

Jeb was losing the whole time, he felt himself getting tired. There wasn't any weakness in Brackenwald's blows, he was clearly the superior experiment. _But I can't…lose…Max…I promised Val…_ Jeb found himself pressed against the floor the director of his existence as an experiment above him, ready to strike, this was it; he was going to become a terminated project, an old file and an autopsy in the school's morgue. "Batchelder, the women in your life are so, so beautiful, do you realize? I'm sure you understand what it is like to be immersed in your work, all for science- I have not had time for the wonders of a woman. When I'm done with you, I'm going take your daughter and your sweet fiancé, and RAPE them. They're going to be mine." His laugh filled the room.

Jeb's heart stopped dead and he blacked out.


	10. Chapter 10

When he came to he was shocked to see the office in ruins and blood smeared on the walls and the floor. Held in his hand, barely resembling the person he'd seen when coming into this building, was Doctor Brackenwald. Blood poured from wounds that Jeb had given him by savagely clawing into his flesh with his bare hands. The doctor would not be fighting back anymore. "Kill me, finish it, experiment one," he rasped, "I just don't understand how this miscalculation could have occurred…"

As Jeb recovered from the shock, he dropped the doctor to the ground who was too weak to even groan. Anger rising in his voice, "You fool! Kill me!" The words shook Jeb to his core. Kill him? Like this? Could he…? And then he understood the separation between him and the doctor; he would not close the gap.

Jeb looked at him coldly, "No."

"Why not?" He hissed.

"Because I have something that you lack, perhaps you lost it when you acquired the microchip, I tend to think you never had it at all."

"And what is that?"

"Control." And he turned and walked away.

* * *

It's done and it sucks. I suck at writing. Hopefully some people enjoyed it at least a little.


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